Rajnath Singh to brief parliamentary committee on Agnipath scheme

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will brief the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence on the Agnipath recruitment scheme, restructuring the way soldiers are recruited to the armed forces.

The minister will brief the committee about the various aspects of the scheme. The registration process for recruitment is under way for the Army and Navy, while it has closed for the Air Force. “Compared to 6,31,528 applications in the past, which was the highest in any recruitment cycle, this time 7,49,899 applications have been received,” the Air Force tweeted.

The Singh-led committee has 20 members, including 13 members of the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha, representing members of nearly all parties. Chiefs of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy, and the defence secretary, as well as other senior defence ministry officials will attend the meeting.

The ministry said, “Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh is scheduled to brief the Committee members about various aspects of the recently-launched Agnipath scheme, through which recruitment of soldiers in all the three services will henceforth take place.”

The Government announced the Agnipath scheme for recruitment of soldiers into the armed forces for four years, replacing the current permanent entry scheme, and the age bracket for new recruits was fixed at 17½ to 21 years. For this year, the Government has announced a one-time upper age limit relaxation to 23 years.

The Army plans to hold 83 rallies to recruit 40,000 Agniveers in two batches this year, while the Navy and Air Force will recruit 3000 Agniveers each. In the first batch, the Army will induct around 25,000 Agniveers by the first half of December. The second batch will be inducted by the first half of February 2023.